Posted on 08/10/2005 10:15:26 AM PDT by radar101
Facing the threat of legal action, Carlsbad Unified School District Superintendent John Roach decided late Tuesday to allow a forum about illegal immigration to be held at the Carlsbad Cultural Arts Center.
"I believe the first amendment issue regarding free speech outweighs the concerns I had regarding crowd behavior," he said.
State Sen. Bill Morrow filed suit against Roach and the Carlsbad Unified School District on Monday after the school chief withdrew the availability of the center for security concerns.
The case, scheduled to be heard in Vista Superior Court early Wednesday, has been dropped.
Last month, Morrow received a permit to hold a public town hall meeting titled "The Defense of our Nation begins at our Borders" on Thursday in the building on the Carlsbad High School campus. Morrow, Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., and MinuteMan Project founder James Gilchrist are scheduled to speak.
But in a letter dated Aug.3, Roach informed Morrow that the forum could not be held at the center, citing concerns that the event poses "an unreasonable risk of damage to the facility, equipment or furnishings" that "might jeopardize the security, health and well-being of an audience of the community."
San Diego lawyer Peter Lepiscopo, who represents Morrow, said preventing the forum from being held would've represented a violation of free speech.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
The John and Ken show on KFI 640AM has been giving Sen. Morrow lots of airtime regarding this meeting. http://www.kfi640.com
I believe this is called the Heckler Law. Simply put, you cannot cancel someones meeting and their free speech simpply because someone is opposed to it.
The court has upheld your right to free speech on this issue - even if the other guys don't want to hear it.
Course they could hold there own meeting instead of stop you but that would be to difficult for them.
The chief of the Carlsbad police was on national TV a few months back and simply stonewalled questions as to why.
It actually was the Carlsbad PD that suggested to Dr. Roach that he cancel the meeting over violence concerns.
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